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REPORT ON THE SLIP-JOINT SIGN STUDY AND THE WINDSOCK STUDY

THE FEASIBILITY OF USING WIND SOCKS AND OTHER DEVICES TO WARN MOTORISTS OF WIND PROBLEMS WAS STUDIED. THE OTHER 49 STATES AND SEVERAL COUNTIES WERE QUERIED REGARDING THEIR PRACTICES AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DEVICES USED. ONLY KANSAS AND NEBRASKA INDICATED WIND PROBLEMS. THEY RELY ON WARNING SIGNS AND ENFORCEMENT. EIGHT OTHER STATES ALSO USE WARNING SIGNS AT ISOLATED GUSTY WIND LOCATIONS. ONLY TWO COUNTRIES, FRANCE AND ITALY, USE WIND SOCKS. WEST GERMANY ONCE DID BUT DISMANTLED THEM BECAUSE OF HIGH MAINTENANCE COSTS. SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, AND GREAT BRITAIN USE WIND SOCK SYMBOL SIGNS. NO ONE REPORTED ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EITHER SOCKS OR SIGNS. ITALY IS USING ILLUMINATED WARNING SIGNS ON THE AUTOSTRADA DEL SOLE. WIND GENERATORS ACTIVATE THE SIGNS AT PREDETERMINED WIND VELOCITIES. WIND SCREENS OF TAMARISK TREES HAVE BEEN PLANTED AT TWO LOCATIONS IN CALIFORNIA. THE TREES ARE STILL TOO SMALL TO BE EFFECTIVE. A WIND SCREEN WAS ALSO ERECTED ON THE RAIL OF A BRIDGE ACROSS A GUSTY WINDSWEPT CANYON WHERE SEVERAL VEHICLES HAVE BEEN BLOWN OVER. A SUPPLEMENT TO THIS STUDY SUMMARIZES THE FINDINGS OF THE TEXAS TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE'S RESEARCH ON BREAKAWAY SIGN POSTS AND CALIFORNIA'S IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE FINDINGS.